Sister Marie Therese was born Nora Roberts in Anglesey, Wales, in 1922. Her family moved to London when she was young and she received her early education there. She was an only child but was very close to and grew up with three first cousins. She trained as a secretary and worked in the civil service in England for many years.
Nationality: Scottish
Congregational Register No: 601
D.O.B. 12.02.1930
First Profession: 27.04.1964
Died: 26.03.2006 Aged: 76 years
Louisa Ritchie was born in Beauly, Inverness, Scotland, into a family of five girls and three boys. Following her mother’s early death, Louisa’s sister, Margaret, took over the job of caring for her siblings and their father.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No. 315
D.O.B. 09.08.1932
First Profession 08.09.1954
Died: 04.12.2002 Aged: 70 years
Born in Cullahill, Co. Laois, Anne Rhatigan, known in the family as ‘Nano’, was the daughter of primary school teachers. She had one sister and five brothers.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 261
D.O.B. 17.01.1929
First Profession: 06.04.1953
Died: 03.02.2008 Aged: 79 years
Mary Brigid Reynolds came from Co. Leitrim where her father was a medical practitioner. She had two brothers and an older sister, Margaret. Mary was educated at the local convent and then by the Ursuline Sisters in Sligo. After leaving school, Mary went to St. Mary’s College of Domestic Science, Dublin, to study household and institutional management. Having obtained her certificates she followed in her sister Margaret’s footsteps and entered MMM.
Sr. Marion Therese was born Mary Reynolds in Dublin in 1930, the daughter of Frances (née Landy) and Francis Reynolds. Her two brothers live in the United States.
Mary trained as a nurse in Salford, England, before joining MMM in February 1957. She took on responsibility early, working in the hospital in Drogheda as a night sister before beginning her novitiate in October that year. Before her first profession she was the night sister in charge. After profession she trained as a midwife in Drogheda.
Sister Margaret was born in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim in 1925 and attended her early education in Ballinamore and in Sligo. She qualified as a nurse in the Mater Hospital in Dublin before joining the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1948. She completed her midwifery training in the IMTH and after profession was assigned to Nigeria.
She spent two and a half years in charge of the maternity hospital in Anua, taught midwifery and was acting matron before training as a nurse tutor in London. She was then ward sister and tutor in the IMTH in Drogheda for two years.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 457
D.O.B. 03.05.1931
First Profession: 26.04.1960
Died: 25.01.2007 Aged: 75 years
Maura was the only child of James and Mary Ramsbothom of Mountmellick, Co. Laois. She was educated by the Presentation Sisters and went on to college in Dublin to study music and become a national school teacher. She was a clever, gifted young woman with great energy, rarely having a free moment to herself. She taught music and coached choir and drama groups and was a very active member of the Legion of Mary.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No. 389
D.O.B.: 15.04.1909
First Profession: 03.05.1957
Died: 26.04.2004 Aged: 95 years
Johanna (Hanna) Rahilly was born in Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry. She came from a farming family and had one brother and one sister. She worked as a waitress in several hotels before entering MMM in October 1955 at the comparatively late age of 46. In spite of being a late entrant, she was to give many years in the service of God as Sr. Patrick Maria.
Nationality: British (born in Keady, Armagh)
Congregational Register No: 509
D.O.B. 26.02.1914
First Profession: 03.04.1963
Died: 19.08.1997 Aged: 83 years
Baptized Una Kathleen, Sr. Ogilvie was born in Keady, Co. Armagh, but grew up in Motherwell in Scotland. She entered MMM on 2 January 1960.
Nationality: British
Congregational Register No: 522
D.O.B. 22.07.1916
First Profession: 04.04.1956
Died: 12.09.2008 Aged: 92 years
Theresa Quinn was born in Liverpool, England, which she laughingly referred to as the capital of Ireland. She was educated at St. John the Evangelist Parochial School and Notre Dame Collegiate School in Liverpool, where she passed her school certificate and obtained qualifications in shorthand, typing and bookkeeping. She worked as a shorthand typist from 1936 to 1946, first in England in a produce broker’s office and then in Wales for the Ministry of Food. At the end of WWII, her excellent secretarial skills enabled her to work in Germany for the United Nations Relocation and Rehabilitation Organisation, helping the tens of thousands of displaced and stateless persons in Europe to find new lives. In 1948, Theresa went to Canada and worked for the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Toronto before moving to Schenectady, New York, in 1952, where she worked as a stenographer for the American Locomotive Company.
In spite of her successful career and active and varied life, Theresa felt a nagging desire for religious life. Following the advice of a good friend, a Benedictine monk, and after a period of discernment, she entered MMM in Winchester, Massachusetts, in 1953 and took the name Sr. Miriam Therese.
Sr. Miriam Therese was called upon to serve in many different MMM houses: in Ireland and the USA, as well as in her beloved Tanzania. Her secretarial and bookkeeping skills were highly regarded and much sought after. She had a talent for languages, too, and her Kiswahili was fluent enough for her to be able to type in the language. This was invaluable in helping her relate to and communicate with the local people and the diocese. She was the bishop’s secretary and bursar in Mbulu Diocese for several years. In Dareda she was also involved with the nursing school. She did secretarial work and gave English lessons to the student nurses.
Sr. Miriam Therese was very musical. She had a beautiful singing voice that soared to the heavens during Mass and the Divine Office. She could also play the organ. She was a perfectionist in her work. Miariam made a bit of medical history in Ireland by being the first person to have both knees replaced! She told one Sister that she had had a very interesting life!
Sr. Miriam Therese retired to Drogheda when her health declined. She found retirement frustrating at times, but following a slight stroke, she emerged with great serenity. In 2005 she transferred to Aras Mhuire, where she was greatly loved by the staff and residents. She was a very gracious lady who loved her family and had a special bond with her ‘baby sister’, Rose.
Sr. Miriam Therese died peacefully on12 September 2008 after a few days of illness, a ‘good and faithful servant’.
